In today’s issue we discuss George Santos flames out of congress but crushes it on Cameo, Paramount+ may be up for sale, gaming expo E3 is closing, Emma Stone sells her Malibu home, and Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin to try launching its New Shepard.

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The Battle Of Business Empires: LeBron vs Jordan - Part 2

Business

I’m a big fan and subscriber to Paramount+ streaming services, and some of the movies and tv shows they’ve made over the years including the Mission: Impossible series, both Top Gun movies, and ALL of the Star Trek series and movies.

The thing is, streaming is hard. If services like Disney+ have struggled to reach profitability, what hope do smaller and less well financed companies like Paramount have?

So it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s news of Paramount putting itself up for sale, for the right price of course. As will all things, the almighty dollar will be the ultimate influencer on any deal.

Shari Redstone, daughter of her father Summer Redstone, is Paramount’s controlling shareholder, and she hasn’t been shy about being open to a big deal if one were to come along.

The company has a market cap of about $10.4 billion, but also has a long-term debt load of $15.6 billion, so for those of you math challenged that’s not a great position to be in, but it’s also not uncommon. So any deal would need to include the assumption of that debt.

Enter news that Skydance and RedBird Capital were exploring potentially taking over the media giant.

Will a deal be made? Good question, but the assets Paramount owns could be very attractive to investors, especially a certain Disney who has a track record of taking iconic movie franchises like Star Wars and Marvel and turning them into box-office juggernauts. 

Paramount shares jump after reports of takeover interest

Tech

The famed Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, is closing. What was once an iconic event for gamers has fallen on tough times since Covid, and it just never recovered. Even before them it was struggling. What can I say, gamers are fickle beasts, and what was once exciting yesterday is passé today.

In what I imagine was a tear-filled statement E3 said:

“After more than two decades of hosting an event that has served as a central showcase for the U.S. and global video game industry, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has decided to bring E3 to a close. ESA remains focused on advocating for ESA member companies and the industry workforce who fuel positive cultural and economic impact every day.”

So rest in peace E3….that is until someone buys the assets, rebrands, and relaunches it in a few years.

Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, is shutting down

Entertainment

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Washed up, corrupt, former congress person finds a second act as a spokesperson shilling for whatever or whoever will pay them the most.

Typically former congress people end up as lobbyists, but George Santos has taken a different route. He dove head first into Cameo, a platform where celebrities, athletes, and 15-minutes-of-famers hawk personalized videos for a fee. You can go ahead and consider George Santos the later.

Now George Santos is charging $500 per video, and claims to have accepted “140 orders yesterday at $599 per order” which comes out to $83,860 in revenue in one day. Nice work if you can get it, but surely it can’t last long.

My guess is his trial for Conspiracy, Wire Fraud, False Statements, Falsification of Records, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Credit Card Fraud will last longer than his 15-minutes of Cameo fame.

Why George Santos' Cameo makes perfect sense

Real Estate

How could anyone not be a big fan of Emma Stone? While she’s too young to call a national treasure, check back with me in 30 years and I’ll make the official call.

From her 2016 performance in “La La Land”, to her current Showtime hit show “The Curse”, to her new movie “Poor Things” that just hit theaters, Emma Stone continues pushing the boundaries of theater.

Then there’s the real estate side of her, and WoW has she been busy! She recently listed and almost immediately sold her Malibu home overlooking the Pacific for $4.4 million. She’s owned homes in New York, LA, and Austin, Texas where she’s settled with her husband, comedian, and writer Dave McCary who has a child with.

Inside Emma Stone’s Stylish Real Estate Portfolio

Space

Not to compare Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin with his flashier and wealthier billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but what has Blue Origin been doing that last year-and-a-half?!?!

SpaceX has managed to successfully launch over 150 rockets into space in the last year-and-a-half, while Blue Origin has managed to launch ZERO. Yes, you read that right.

Now Blue Origin is looking to change that, with the hopeful launch of their New Shepard spacecraft that they’ve been working on for the last 15 months.

After 15 months Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft will finally fly again

So much news, so little time. Until tomorrow we’re signing out.

— Chris